Abomination
by what-a-nork
Summary: Set in ennji-undertales abominate AU. When all monsters are Boss Monsters, and all can be absorbed, even the best of pacifists would be tempted to try just one. What about the whole Underground? Does get kinda gory. Lots of death and stuff, and some bad language. I really enjoyed writing this, so I hope you enjoy reading! This was first published on harrietwritesthings!
1. Chapter 1

abomination

They could feel themselves falling. Down the cursed mountain and into… somewhere. They didn't know where. It was really dark. And suddenly, their fingers touched something soft, for barely half a second, and then everything went even blacker than before.

Out of the darkness, there came a person. They walked forward, the person in the darkness. The fallen didn't even know they were on the ground until the darkness person extended their hand. The fallen took it and the dark person pulled them onto their feet. The area around them lightened, and became a grey. It was light enough for the fallen to see them now. The fallen looked at the persons face and saw a pale face, a wide smile, pink cheeks and red irises. The fallen couldn't remember if that was strange or not. In fact, they couldn't remember anything.

'Hello. Nobody ever comes here anymore. My name is Chara- what's yours?' the person- Chara- asked the fallen. They shook their head. They couldn't remember. 'I'll give you one, then. Um… Taylor?' The fallen shook their head. It didn't feel right. 'Sam? Casey?' The fallen kept shaking their head.

Chara bit their lip in thought. The fallen looked at them, looked properly. Chara wore a green sweater with one paler stripe, and brown trousers. Then, brownish-black trainers. The trainers looked really comfortable- the fallen noted that they should get a pair, if they saw any. The fallen saw their own jumper out of the corner of their eye- it was blue, with two stripes instead of just one. They wore darker blue shorts, exposing their leg from just above the knee down. Semi-formal shoes adorned their feet. They reached up to touch their hair, and saw it was dark-brown, and fell to just above their shoulders.

'What about Frisk? I once knew someone called that, but it was a nickname…' Chara trailed off, and the fallen nodded their head. 'Frisk! I like it.' The newly-named Frisk smiled.

'Can we leave here, Chara?' Now that they were named, they felt confident enough to talk. They didn't remember learning to talk, but they knew how to anyway.

'Yeah. I needed another person to help me leave, but now you're here, we both can. I need you to wear something- I can't go back, not fully. Don't ask why. But if you wear this, we can go together. I'll be right by your side- well, neck,' Chara smiled a little wider, and then held up a necklace, with a locket on it. It was the shape of a heart. Frisk bowed their head a little, and Chara unfastened it and clipped it around their neck. Frisk lifted their head again, noticing how Chara was several inches taller than them. 'Okay then, let's go back!' Chara lifted their hand, and tapped the locket.

* * *

Frisk woke with a start on a bed of yellow flowers. They lifted their head and spat out mouthful of dirt. Shaking, they pushed themselves up, and looked up.

'I-I fell down that?' they said aloud.

 _Yeah. You met me when you got down here!_ Chara's familiar voice echoed. Frisk looked around and, there they were. They were translucent- if Frisk focused, they could see right through Chara. _I'm incorporeal, by the way. Like… a ghost!_ Frisk knew the definition for a ghost, but nothing else came to mind. It seemed to be that they remembered nothing, but that didn't feel weird. How could they miss something that they never knew they had?

'O-okay, Chara,' they replied, voice shaking a little. They glanced at the flowerbed, and saw just at the edge was a long stick. It had a little fork, where a brown leaf hung on stubbornly. Frisk picked it up and pulled the leaf off, dropping it into the flowerbed. Looking up, they saw a small corridor and a large doorway, with no door. The pair walked up to it (Chara floated) and they could see it had parts broken off it. Still, it was obvious it had once been grand.

 _Go on then. I'll be through in a second,_ Chara murmured, and Frisk nodded. The child walked through the doorway, leaving the ghost.

Through the door, Frisk saw a flower. It was bent over, petals towards the ground. 'Do flowers talk?' Frisk asked themselves, and shrugged. They didn't know. Upon hearing their voice, the flower looked up and its eyes widened. Chara floated in then, and saw the flower in front of Frisk. They came up beside Frisk, and looked disdainfully at the flower. Frisk didn't notice, only sensing they were there.

'What do we do, Chara?' Frisk asked. The flower's eyes widened further.

'C-Chara?' it whispered. Frisk didn't hear, but Chara did.

 _Talk to it. Get its name,_ Chara ordered. Frisk knelt down to the flower's height, and its eyes followed them.

'Hi, flower. I'm Frisk, and that-' they jerked their thumb over their shoulder at the being '-is Chara. Who're you?' at least they remembered how to form sentences.

'H-howdy! My n-name's Flowey…' the flower said, voice shaking. His eyes wouldn't move from where Frisk had pointed. 'B-but you guys can call me Asriel.'

Frisk heard Chara take in a swift breath. _A-asriel? But, he died!_ Chara muttered. Realizing Frisk could hear them, they cleared their throat. _He was… a friend. A close one. He got ill and fell asleep, and never woke up._ Frisk couldn't detect the lie, and nodded. _Get him to touch the locket._ Frisk nodded again.

'Asriel, then? Touch the locket. I don't know what it'll do, but Chara wants me to get you to do it,' the human said, and the flower seemed to nod. He extended a vine and tapped the locket so it swung from the human's neck. For a second, he breathed in quickly, and then sighed in disappointment.

'I only saw them for a moment,' the flower huffed. The vine hit the locket again and wound around it, stilling it. 'Chara,' he spoke, his voice full of awe. 'I missed you, Chara. Where have you been all these years?' he asked, eyes fixated on theirs.

Frisk looked around the small room- it wasn't much. A small patch of green grass in a dark room. There was another doorway straight ahead, just like the one they had entered through. Suddenly, Chara yelled 'ASRIEL!'-and a ball of fire zoomed over where he used to be. A small mound of dirt was all to show he was there. Frisk's head whipped to the side to see who had hit their friend, and all their instincts told them to flee, to raise the stick in defence. They felt Chara's cold hand on their shoulder and they calmed, although still raising the stick slightly.

Out of the shadow walked a monster. It had a long face and horns, and long floppy ears that Frisk felt the sudden urge to stroke. They supressed that, and instead searched the monsters red eyes- they were a different shade to Chara's. Asriel had black eyes, so maybe people only had red or black eyes? Frisk wondered which colour eyes they had, in a corner of their mind.

'Hello, my child. You have fallen down, have you not? Do not worry, my dear, I will not hurt you. My name is Toriel, and I am the caretaker of these Ruins. Follow me, I will guide you through the catacombs,' and with that the goat monster extended a hand. Frisk looked up at Chara, who was staring at Toriel. Frisk wouldn't get help with this until they snapped out of it. Frisk reluctantly took it, but didn't move, still looking up at Chara.

'Chara..? You coming?' the human asked the spectre, effectively snapping them out of their hocked trance.

 _Yeah, I'm coming. But please, don't say my name around anyone but Asriel. They might not be as nice as him and Toriel,_ Chara said, and moved up until they were the other side of Toriel. Toriel was looking at Frisk in confusion.

'An imaginary friend? Well, you are one of the youngest humans I've seen fall down. Many young monsters have them,' Toriel informed the child. 'May I hold their hand also? I would feel better knowing that I am guiding both of you safely,' she said. The goat seemed to know how to handle children. She held out a paw, but Chara shook their head violently.

'They'd rather you didn't, miss,' Frisk told, the goat, who just smiled in a motherly way. Frisk didn't know why they were being polite- just a feeling that they should be. They didn't really know why, but it felt good to have Toriel smile at them in that manner. The goat monster led the child, and therefore the ghost, through the door.

* * *

Through the door was a large room, with two staircases going up to a door. In between the staircases was a patch of red roses. On the roses, there was a yellow star, and Frisk looked at Chara in curiosity.

 _It's a save point. Go on, touch it!_ Frisk nodded, and let go of Toriel. They walked up to the 'save point' and laid a hand on it. Two boxes appeared above it, and they looked at Chara. _RESET will take you back to the flower patch. SAVE will let you come back here at any point. If you SAVE at another point, you won't be able to come back here. Capiche?_ Frisk nodded in understanding. Toriel had climbed the stairs and watched the child pat the air above the roses.

'Falling down may have really damaged them. Oh dear,' Toriel murmured, her smile falling. She smiled weakly at the child as they got to the top of the stairs, and she led them through the purple rooms of the ruins.

The three approached the dummy, and Toriel hesitated. If they were as damaged as she thought, it was probably best if she got them to Home as quickly as possible. She carried on, gently pulling the child away from the dummy.

* * *

Once the child had reached the end of the long room, Toriel frowned. They talked to their imaginary friend so much. The goat was worried. 'My child, I must go. Please, stay here. Talk to your friend. I will be back soon,' she told Frisk, and left the room hurriedly. Something about the child wasn't right. It felt wrong and disturbing. The goat had to get away and sort her mind out.

When the goat left, Chara floated in front of Frisk. _C'mon, Frisk, let's go! We have the whole ruins to explore!_ Chara was grinning and their eyes were wild with excitement.

'Toriel said to stay here, though,' Frisk said, sitting down. They looked up at Chara.

Chara's grin fell, and their eyes calmed. They floated down to be at Frisk's eye level. _Are you gonna listen to her over me?_

'O-of course not!' Frisk had to admit, Chara could get a little scary. They knew that now. Quickly scrambling to their feet, Chara smiled again and floated up. Frisk held out their hand to hold Chara's in. Chara put their hand in Frisks, a cold pressure in the child's hand. Together, they walked out of the long room and into another.

The next room was the same colour- a purple. There were two pillars to their left, and a corridor to their right. A monster hopped up to them and butted its head against Frisk's leg. They jumped, throwing their arms out and clinging tightly to the stick. The monster was small, and had large bulging eyes. Once they regained their footing, they felt something in their chest, hot and being pulled out. They tried to grab it, but their hand went straight through it and their world turned black and white. No longer being able to see anything, their hand went to their locket and squeezed it.

 _Ow! Watch it, Frisk!_ Chara growled. _You're in a FIGHT, okay? There are four options at the bottom. You can read them yourself. That there is a Froggit. Let's go with the namesake of this situation, huh? It hit you, now FIGHT it. Hit it back, with the stick. Go on._ Chara ordered, and Frisk hesitated. _Go on, you idiot. Hit it._

Frisk lifted the stick, no longer brown but black with a thin white outline. They raised it, and brought it down hard on the monster. It thwacked its head hard on the floor. The surroundings turned back to purple, and other things than the Froggit became visible once more. An upside-down heart rose from the monster's prone body. Frisk reached out and tapped the heart, and it disappeared. A hill ran from their finger to where the heat had been pulled out, and a warmth spread through their body. They could feel the hot thing from before as they touched their chest, and they saw a slight red glow. The most curious thing, though, was that it felt like another heart was beating on the other side of their chest, but when they touched it, it was cold rather than warm. They dismissed it as something that they just hadn't noticed before and looked at where the Froggit had been. Only a small bit was there- but on their shorts was a lot of white powder.

 _It's just dust, Frisk, wipe it off and let's check up here._ Chara's grin from before was back, plastered across their face. They floated to the left, finding an altar and a bowl. Upon further investigation, Frisk found sweets inside, and grabbed a few. When going back for more, though, the bowl tipped off the altar and they felt too guilty to take any more. Chara laughed a little, and they progressed onwards.

* * *

Several rooms later, and at Chara's insistence, Frisk had walked around a little until they'd fought a lot of monsters. The feeling after touching the hearts was intoxicating, and Frisk was feeling exuberant. Chara led them through a corridor, telling them they'd find a ton of spiders and where they could find good food, when a ghost not unlike Chara appeared. They had the same translucent body that Frisk could see through, but the ghost was a lot more rounded and didn't have any limbs. It was the only monster which hadn't tried to attack Frisk first, so they weren't sure what to do.

 _What we've been doing the entire time. C'mon Frisk, hit it!_ Chara encouraged, but Frisk shook their head. _If you don't do it, I will. If I get hurt, then that blood is on your hands,_ Chara warned, their voice becoming a threatening growl. Frisk shook their head again, but their expression was becoming pained. _Frisk. Do it._ The spite in their biting voice was enough to throw Frisk over the edge. Chara didn't sound happy. Frisk wanted to keep them happy. The child started forward and jabbed the ghost with the stick. Surprisingly, the ghosts outline dipped in where the stick forced it down, and the ghost repeated the sound 'z' as if pretending to sleep.

'..please don't make me move…' Frisk heard the ghost whisper. '…i don't want to go back to happsta's empty house..' Chara could see the pity in Frisk's eyes as they pulled the branch off the ghost, their skin pinging back to normal. '…i guess there are other places than waterfall…' and the ghost phased away, fading from sight.

 _I told you fight him, you idiot. He's gotten away._

'I-I couldn't hurt them. They reminded me of someone. Funny that, I can't remember who..' Frisk trailed off, lost in thought.

 _Whatever, idiot. C'mon, let's get this over with,_ Chara's scorn-filled voice growled. They grabbed Frisk's wrist, a hard cold pressure. They pulled the child to the spider room and Frisk paid for a donut, swallowing when Chara refused to meet their eye. They decided to let them have their silence, and just hoped Chara would follow them still.

Frisk moved on through another few rooms before coming to a fork. One way led up to a room with a large, black tree, and the other way led to a corridor. Frisk ran into another Whimsun and quickly dispatched it, touching the heart and the warmth spread through them again. Chara came up again, to float beside them. It seemed they'd had their fill of sulking. They decided to go forwards instead of toward the tree, so they walked slowly down the corridor.

The red glow illuminated their chest now. If they held their hand very close to their body, they could see a white light reflecting off their hand. The red light playing along the brick walls as Frisk passed through the corridor. Finally, they approached the room and walked in.

The wall was a wonderful sight. It showed a black and white city in the distance. Frisk glanced at Chara, to see them staring wide-eyed over the distance. The sight bored Frisk, so they looked around the room instead, and saw a plastic toy. Immediately intrigued, they moved forward until they could make out the toy- it was a knife. Somewhat blunted, but nicer than the stick. Frisk looked at the stick. In comparison to when they first found it, it no longer had the little brank poking into their hand- they'd stripped that off quickly, before it got too annoying. The stick was covered in pale dust, varying in shades of grey. They dropped it and picked up the knife. It fit into their hand like it was made specifically for them. Tightening their grip around it, they walked back to Chara.

'Look, Chara! Look what I found!' Frisk waved the knife in front of Chara.

 _Woah, watch where you put that thing! Nice find, Frisk. I like your style. How about we go find Toriel now?_ Chara suggested, and Frisk nodded in agreement.

* * *

In exploring Toriel's home, Frisk found a mirror. Finally, they could see what they actually looked like. They had red eyes, like they thought they might. However, they also had black eyes, as the parts around the red were fully black. They weren't too striking, and Frisk could see better when squinting anyway.

Frisk and Chara decided to go and talk to Toriel. She was interesting.

'Is this the whole underground? Do only monsters live here? Am I a monster?'

Toriel peered over her snail fact book and at Frisk. 'No, my child, there is far more to the underground than just these RUINS. Yes, only monsters live here, except for you, my child,' and at the last question, Toriel frowned. 'Of course you are not a monster! You are a human. Did you… really not know that?'

'I don't remember anything, nothing at all. All I remember is that I fell and C-'

 _Frisk. Remember? Don't mention me to ANYONE but Asriel!_

'N-never mind,' Frisk stuttered, and Toriel smiled.

'Come, my child. You must be very tired. I have a spare bedroom you are welcome to.'

The next day, when they awoke, Chara urged them to get Toriel to show them the rest of the underground. Toriel went stony-faced and told them to stay there. Much like when she had done that the previous day, Frisk didn't listen. Chara suggested they check downstairs, and they found Toriel down there.

'I knew something was wrong with you. You smelt of death. It felt colder near you. I see none of the residents anymore. No Whimsun to cheer up, no Froggit to play with. You were covered in dust. I have seen plenty of monsters become dust in my time- you have killed them, have you not? And knowing my child's name… Chara. They are here, no doubt.' Chara swallowed. 'I cannot let you past, death child. I do not even know your name, but I know I must stop you.'

*TORIEL BLOCKS THE WAY.

The familiar feeling of the heat being pulled out of their chest, but this time, the cold went with it.

 _Frisk, you know what to do, don't you. The knife. Use it._ Chara sounded almost defeated.

'If it will make you happy again…' Frisk murmured, and raised the knife. They shut their eyes as it came down in an arc, cutting through the goat's face. Frisk opened their eyes when they felt a heavy thud. Toriel was on her knees in front of the pair of children, one alive and one ghost.

'I know who I was protecting by keeping you here. N-not you-' Toriel grunted, her matted with dust '-but them. Forgive me, A-asgore…' and with that, the goat fell forward but became dust before she hit the floor. The upside down heart floated above the dust, and Frisk grabbed it with their whole hand. Hotter than before, it was painful when the effect lanced down their arm.

Everything fell silent. And then the door beyond the dust creaked open.


	2. Chapter 2

On their first step through the door, Frisk shivered. In front of them was a long path lined with snow. Luckily for them, it wasn't snowing currently. They gripped the knife a little tighter and started forward, only sparing the bush a glance. Chara hovered behind, almost uncertainly.

'Chara, you coming? I doubt there's anyone in there left for you to talk to or see,' Frisk turned to them and smiled.

 _Um, yeah, sorry Frisk. I was just… thinking._ They replied, smiling back. Frisk turned back to face the path, and nearly tripped on a branch. They managed to not lose their balance, earning a chuckle from their ghostly friend. Chara floated ahead of Frisk and faced backwards so they could watch the human's face. They noticed that Frisk's face was void of emotion, and their eyes were opened slightly. Their SOUL was shining dimly from their chest.

They heard a sharp cracking sound, and Frisk whipped their head around. Chara had missed what had made the sound because they were studying Frisk and they cursed themself.

'You heard that too, Chara?' Frisk asked, and Chara nodded, staring at the branch which they could have sworn wasn't broken before.

 _Let's keep going._

Frisk nodded, and looked back ahead. They didn't have far to what looked like a bridge, so they carried on heading toward that. The hard snow of the path crunched beneath their footfalls.

As they reached the bridge, they felt a presence behind them. 'Is someone there?' they called out, and looked at Chara. Chara nodded frantically.

 _Skeleton. Doesn't look like they'll hurt you, but still- be careful._

'well, this just ruined my surprise,' a deep voice behind them sounded. Frisk turned around quickly. There stood a figure wreathed in darkness. 'shake my hand, human.'

Frisk looked down and saw a hand extended toward them. Tentatively, they took it and shook it. A loud fart sound came from between their hands. Chara outright laughed, whereas the human just looked at the figure in confusion. The shadows shifted and they were able to see them correctly. A wide grin shone in the wintry light, and they could see the glint of the white bone. The skeletons eye-sockets were pulled up at the corners in a frown, possibly of frustration or confusion.

'not your kind of humour? that's cool. my name is sans, sans the skeleton,' the skeleton introduced himself. Frisk's attention was drawn to his blue jackets as he shoved his hand inside one of the pockets. The jacket looked a little too large for him- it was well worn, and had an incredibly fluffy hood, and the fluff stood out around his shoulders. He wore a white t-shirt underneath it, but again it seemed slightly too big for him so a tiny slice of the first bone of his ribcage was visible.

'you done lookin? anyway, kid, my brother papyrus will be around here soon. he's a human hunting fanatic. go through the bars, he made em too big for anything to get caught behind them anyway,' he said through the grin. It seemed as if he couldn't not smile. Chara found that slightly unnerving. They floated through the bars and looked over at the other side.

The human walked through the bars, sans pretty close behind. 'here pap comes. hide behind that conveniently-shaped lamp,' he suggested, and Frisk glanced around. They saw the oddly-placed lamp and got behind it, back to the lamp. Chara floated in front of the lamp since nobody could see them, so it wouldn't matter.

'SANS! YOU'RE NOT LAZING OFF? HAVE YOU FOUND A HUMAN, THEN?' Frisk heard the higher-pitched voice of another monster. Since the other monster was sans' brother, Frisk thought it was safe to assume that Papyrus was a skeleton.

'yeah.'

'WELL, THAT'S SORTED THEN!' and with that, they heard bones rattling as Papyrus set off.

'hey, kid, you can get out from behind that lamp now,' sans spoke. They looked around the lamp and at him, and saw the final details of what they'd missed. He wore basketball shorts (they couldn't figure out how. Maybe he tied them around his pelvis?) and pastel pink slippers and socks. He smiled at them and waved. 'see ya around, kid.' And with that, he walked back the way they came. Chara frowned in confusion, but made it back into a smile when they realised Frisk was looking at them again.

'Chara?'

 _What's up, Frisk?_

'Am I the only one who can see you? Nobody seems to react to the things you say or do.'

 _I'm not entirely sure. I'm pretty sure my SOU- um, I'm contained in that locket. Anyone in contact with it can see me. That's why I got Asriel to touch it._

'What were you going to say? What's a soul?'

 _I don't really- no, I do know. See the red light on your chest?_ Frisk nodded. _That there, that's your SOUL. Monsters have souls, too, just less powerful ones. Still powerful, though._

'That sounds pretty cool. Wanna move on?'

 _Sure._ Chara felt a little flustered- they'd fully expected Frisk to seem even a little guilty about that they'd been stealing monster souls. Chara fully expected Frisk to blame them, but they hadn't. Maybe things on the surface had really changed, Chara thought, and not for the better.

In the next clearing, they decided to SAVE at the yellow star. Above the words SAVE and RESET was a few words. 'Determination. 16 left.' they ignored the box, and moved on forwards.

They found a badly made box. Chara saw Frisk shiver several times in the corner of their eyes, but they ignored it- it had been so long since Chara themself had actually felt cold. Chara drifted to the box, and read that Papyrus had made it, and they chuckled a little at his obvious enthusiasm. The ghost felt a breeze pass through their incorporeal form as a monster wandered into the clearing the human stood in. Chara saw Frisk glaring straight at it. They floated forward slightly as Frisk leapt forward to just in front of the monster.

Chara only had a few moments to actually look at the monster- they recognized it as a Snowdrake. Its face was shaped like a snowflake, they realized and they smiled a little. Then it was gone in a fleeting instance as they saw Frisk drag their knife across the monster, just above its beak. The monster's eyes went wide as it crumbled. Frisk held their hand out and grabbed the SOUL before the monster was finished crumbling, and shut their eyes as its effect worked. They turned back to look at Chara, blinking rapidly.

'I don't need to squint anymore! It's like the times before I got glasses!' Chara looked confused. 'I used to wear glasses, on the surface,' Frisk said, slowly feeling their elation die out. 'I must have lost my glasses during the fall… Huh. I don't remember…' they trailed off, seemingly lost in thought. Chara looked at them again, really looked, and saw their eyes were no longer squinted, but they weren't wide open either. They could see their red pupils, and black surroundings.

Strange, they thought. I don't remember having eyes like that, Chara thought, for a few moments. They dismissed the thought quickly. _Come on, Frisk. Let's move on._

* * *

In the next clearing, there was yet another sentry box. Frisk appeared to be ignoring it, until they walked past it and a dog popped up. Its eyes were full of suspicion.

'Who goes there? I can only see moving things! Who are you?' The dog barked, its voice like rough as sandpaper. Frisk's red SOUL was pulled out of their chest, the familiar feeling of heat. They readied their knife. When the four options presented themselves, they pointed to the FIGHT option, and as it highlighted, they prepared to leap and as gravity affected them, to swing the knife. They sliced through the dog's chest, and its eyes widened in surprise. It lifted its paw to its smoking dog-treat, and gave a puff.

 _Frisk, don't move,_ Chara murmured in a low tone, so they kept their SOUL perfectly stationary. Sure enough, the pale blue sword sliced right through the red heart, and nothing happened. The four options presented themselves again, and this time Frisk pointed with the knife, and began running forward. They struck upwards this time, and the dog was dust before they even finished their strike. The red SOUL moved back to the human's chest with the force of an elastic band pinged. They touched the dog's SOUL and images flooded their head. Frisk put a hand to their head and winced fractionally.

 _Frisk, you good?_ Chara asked, their brow furrowed in worry. The human nodded, and took their hand away. Their SOUL glowed a little brighter in their chest, and was joined by a slight white glow that Chara could see.

Chara stayed silent as they moved into the next place, a patch of ice with two paths, one straight ahead and another to the left. Frisk took the one going left first, and saw a snowman. The snowman asked them to take a piece of him far, far away. Frisk smiled in a kindly way, before taking a piece. Then another. The snowman cried out. Frisk's smile dropped from their eyes, but stretched wider across their face. They took the final piece and the snowman slumped lower and lower until he was a useless pile of snow. Frisk looked around, up at Chara. The ghost was floating about half a metre from the ground, knees bent up under them, as if they were kneeling on the air. They were looking dazed, alarmed by what had just unfolded. They had known what Frisk was capable of all along, of course- they had put them into this, and it was their fault.

 _He- he couldn't have fought back. He was defenceless. W-why?_ The ghost murmured under their breath. Frisk looked down, and stalked forward, through Chara and back to the ice. Chara put their head in their hands, before composing themself and floating back to Frisk.

The pair walked along a path, littered with rocks until they reached a square of hard snow. Papyrus and sans stood at the other end of the square. Papyrus began to explain about the electricity maze, but was interrupted by Frisk taking several steps forward. They strolled through the maze, shoulders back, their chin up, and eyes defiant. Papyrus stuttered, and stopped trying to speak. sans looked at Frisk and Chara imagined that if he had skin and hair, his eyebrows would be forming a straight line across his forehead. Papyrus tapped sans, and the shorter skeleton sent one final glare at the human before walking off into the next place. Papyrus smiled at Frisk kindly, and then ran after his brother.

'Come on, Chara. We've got things to do,' and with that, Frisk moved on. Chara blinked, before giving a tug on their incorporeal jumper and glided through the cold air to catch up with the human.

* * *

In the next place, Frisk came across many monsters, having seen or heard Snowdrakes demise. Frisk cut them down one by one, their red SOUL glowing with every dusting. Chara day-dreamed, trying to take themself away from the scene. They thought about the flower, Asriel. They thought about how he should've been dead.

Soon, they heard Frisk call to them, and it broke them out of the haze. Piles of dust stood around the human, and their knife was covered in millions of dust particles. Their smile was wider. Their jumper and shorts were covered in a thin layer of white and they shivered no more. Chara floated up to their left shoulder, and stayed there. They passed through a place with a small rectangle, only a single piece of paper inside. There was nobody in sight.

The human advanced into what seemed to be one of the biggest places so far. To the right, there was a pile of snow in a perfect square, whereas straight on was a pair of trees. Frisk headed for the trees, and found a square of hard snow. On closer examination, they found a switch, which they flick with a finger and stood up. They heard the clanking of a contraption working, and they turned to head back to where they could go right when they were intercepted by a dog in light armour with a shield.

Frisk felt their SOUL being pulled out of their chest, and selected FIGHT, as usual. What wasn't usual was the way the dog looked over Frisk's shoulder, at something which made it whimper in fright. This gave Frisk the opening they needed, and they sliced at it with the knife, and it didn't become dust for a few moments. Instead it looked at Frisk and cowered. It meant nothing to Chara, but to Frisk, the dog's posture showed perfect submission.

'Seems absorbing that dog earlier did something, huh, Chara? Isn't this interesting,' they breathed, touching the newer dog's SOUL. Chara looked disturbed. Frisk didn't even look to register their facial expression, and instead stepped over the dog's dust and walked toward the square of piled snow. There was an opening into a new place, and Frisk moved toward it, Chara following hesitantly. Once inside the new place, two more dog with their hoods drawn in tightly began to dance around the human. A battle was initiated, which Frisk won easily, absorbing their SOULS. Frisk moved on, but Chara drifted down to the piles of dust.

 _Why are they doing this?_

'Chara, are you coming or not?

 _..I'm coming._

* * *

The next few puzzles were complete. Vines stretched over the buttons, seemingly Asriel's work. Frisk murmured under their breath for some time, but Chara didn't go close enough to clear- they didn't want to. There was another puzzle that clearly was going to be presented to them, but neither of the skeletons were there, so Frisk walked right on through. They saved at the point, which only said 'Determination. One left.'

In the next part, there were large snowballs distributed unevenly throughout. Frisk just walked straight through snowballs, until the end, where they stopped abruptly. Another dog rose up, in a full suit of armour. Only a few swipes and Frisk had dispatched it, and absorbed the SOUL quickly, glancing up at Chara again, only to see them staring straight ahead.

Frisk strolled through until they came to a bridge. Finally, the two skeletons had made a reappearance. Chara floated on across the bridge, and onto the other side. They had to pass beside sans, and he looked strangely at the spot where they had moved through. He shook his head and dismissed it as nothing, but Chara had noticed. Frisk hadn't, as Papyrus had begun to monologue. The skeleton was a lot taller than sans, with a long flowy red scarf. A rounded top protected his ribs and his femurs and shin-bones were coloured black, leading into orange boots which were obviously far too big for him because he was a skeleton. His legs wouldn't fit in the boots properly.

Frisk was listening to Papyrus intently, and 'ooh'ed at the correct moment, when the skeleton raised the trap. The skeleton must have seen something in the human's eyes, as he made it disappear. Chara idly wondered what it was.

Papyrus cleared off, but sans stayed behind. When Frisk attempted to get past him, he interrupted them sharply.

'kid, i don't know what you're doing, but you need to stop. if you keep going the way you are… you're gonna have a real bad time. there's something off about you- i can't figure it out.

'whatever you do, if you fight my brother, i know what the outcome will be. you'll kill him, and i couldn't live with myself if i hadn't warned you. see you around,' the skeleton cut off his words at the end, with the harsh determination of someone who had an important mission. After he finished his speech, Frisk just raised an eyebrow. The skeleton just sighed and walked int eh direction his brother had set off in.

 _Don't tell me you're planning on fighting the skeleton. You heard sans._

Instead of listening to them like Chara had hoped, the human just gave them a grin and walked toward the town.


	3. Chapter 3

The human walked into the town, the ghost floating behind, and a little higher. Chara was kneeling on air- the thought amused them, and it was pretty comfortable. They looked down at their companion, as the living human noticed the twinkling golden star and made a beeline for it. Frisk tapped it, and the two options hovered above, with a message.

'Determination.' It reminded Chara of the messages of before, only without a number. Just to the left of the options, it displayed Frisk's name and their LV. Eight. They had earned eight levels. Chara had never increased in LV, but understood the concept. Frisk was already distancing themself from their emotions, and Chara looked away. This _was_ their fault, after all. Chara had pushed them into doing all these terrible things. Frisk tapped the SAVE option with a finger, and the projection was sucked back into the yellow star, and it twinkled brighter.

'Chara, let's check in some of these places. Maybe there's someone still around?' there was almost a hopeful tone in Frisk's voice. It was slightly unnerving, in the eerie-feeling surroundings, but Chara brushed it off quickly.

 _Okay. We should do this logically, work from edge of town inwards,_ Chara suggested, looking down the length of the town. It seemed to continue on in a straight line. They shrugged, and followed the human as Frisk headed toward the building closest to the sign. As they drew closer, Chara noted that the board above the door said 'Shop.' The windows were boarded up with branches which seemed to have been hastily shoved in place.

The door was slightly ajar, and creaked slightly when Frisk pushed it open. They shot a look back at Chara, who shrugged and motioned for them to go in. The human looked back at the door and pushed it lightly with their fingertips. It was a small shop, with enough space in between the dark wooden countertop and the door for two people to fit past one another comfortably. Chara took to looking at all the goods on shelves while Frisk went straight to the counter and looked at a piece of paper left on the surface. Peering closer, they read 'please don't hurt my family.' There was no signature, and the handwriting was messy and looked to have been scrawled quickly. Leaning over the counter, they saw a shelf on which there was a pile of G, and some pre-packaged Cinnamon Buns and a pair of Bisicles. Glancing at Chara, who was still looking at the shelves, they reached over the counter and grabbed as much money as they could fit in their child-sized fist. Quickly, they pushed the money in their pocket as their ghostly companion turned and looked at them with an odd expression.

 _This feels wrong, to be in here,_ Chara remarked. Frisk looked at them.

'I don't know what you're on about, Chara, but we'll go if you don't like it. Let me grab some Cinnamon Buns- they might come in handy,' they said. The human walked to where Chara floated and grabbed several Buns. There was a bag hanging beside the door, so Frisk grabbed that. It was a sturdy-looking, brown backpack. They knelt down and pulled its contents out. Inside was a pale blue sweater, and they put that on the floor beside the backpack. A pair of orange fingerless gloves laid at the bottom, but they left them in. There was also a beanie hat, with two holes in the top. They didn't really know what to do with that, so they put that on top of the sweater, and put the Buns inside the backpack. As if a second thought, they put the jumper in, quickly taking out the Buns and placing them on top of the sweater. Shutting the bag and slinging it around, they settled it firmly on their shoulders, pulling the tags just hard enough that it wouldn't jump around if Frisk ran. They pulled the sleeves of their blue striped t-shirt flat, so it was unrumpled by the backpack. Smiling at Chara, they stood and left, the ghost following them.

Walking through the white village felt strange. The snow crunched underfoot. They passed a pale house with a circular door. Nobody was outside. Almost directly opposite the house was a fir tree. It was decorated with dimly light red lights and spheres of gold handing from the branches. A star sat on the top, moving side to side with the biting breeze. Frisk walked close up to the tree, and looked at it with a strange expression.

 _Nothing for us,_ Chara murmured. Frisk looked at them in what seemed to be confusion, before shrugging and moving on.

* * *

They came to a wooden building with a sign saying 'Grillby's'. It looked like a nice homey place, and Frisk walked right in. There were two tables, a few booths and some barstools around the bar. The place was wooden panelled, and felt like it was supposed to be warm and inviting. It didn't feel like that. On the table to their left was a deck of cards, strewn across the table. The table in the back corner had a dog food bowl, the food seemingly untouched. The bar was lit with the weak light from a neon sign on the back wall, which flickered. The sign was the name of the pub. There was a jukebox just in front of it, and it was playing a tune which sounded very off-key. Frisk walked over to it and pulled out the plug, stopping the music altogether, leaving only an empty silence. Chara floated towards the bar, and found plates of half-eaten fries. There was an empty glass sitting on the counter, singe-marks on the cloth next to it. In fact, the closer they looked, the more burns they found along the slab of wood.

Frisk didn't seem interested at all in the deserted place. 'Nothing in here. Let's move on,' they huffed, glancing around the bar one final time. Chara looked to the windows in here as well- they weren't boarded up like the shop was. There was nothing that Frisk could take on their way. Thinking back on it, Chara didn't actually know where Frisk was headed. They assumed it was to the barrier, to leave the underground behind them. Now, they weren't so sure. '-you coming, Chara?' Frisk asked in almost a bored tone, holding the door open, letting a cold draught sweep through the bar. Chara nodded, and Frisk walked out. The ghost took one final look around the pub, trying to imagine it bustling with patrons, before sighing and leaving themself.

* * *

They looked around the corner after Grillby's, but nothing seemed of interest to the human, so they continued the walk through the village. The sky was darkening, although Chara didn't really understand how. They supposed there must be some kind of artificial light somewhere in the underground. Frisk didn't seem to be getting tired, and as a ghost, Chara physically couldn't get tired, so it didn't exactly matter. There was a library in the village, with an extra b in the sign. It made Chara smile.

They walked inside, the pair, and found t able with a few books strewn across it and an unfinished book on the counter. What really caught Frisk's interest were the bookshelves at the back- especially the ones detailing about monster SOULs. While they were reading up about them, Chara took the time to check around. The lights were still on, and it was a nice warm place. They floated over to the counter, and found a piece of paper with perfectly joined writing on it.

'We were all evacuated. The two skeletons didn't go though, see if you can ask them what's happening. If you've not been evacuated, we're at the MTT Resort- that's where Dr. Alphys directed us to. It seems to be just a drill, but the doctor was pretty serious. Sorry honey- I'll see you later. Love, Andy.' The note seemed to be from one of the librarians to her spouse.

'-Chara? Are you listening?' Frisk broke them out of their train of thought. The ghost looked over at their companion, who sat with their back propped up against a bookshelf of green books. They had one leg straight out, and one foot flat on the floor so they could stand their book up. Their eyes were open, red irises surrounded by black, both inside and out. 'I'm tired. We should stay here for the night,' they said, yawning. Chara nodded and drifted slowly over to them. Frisk pulled the sweater from the bottom of the bag and wadded it up tightly, getting it to serve as a pillow. 'Can you tell me a story?' the human asked, once their eyes were shut. Chara looked down at them. The child looked tranquil, and happy.

 _Okay, Frisk. Do you want any specific story?_ The human shook their head. Chara smiled again, and sat down properly on the floor, letting their incorporeal form fuzz out a little bit. It took energy to keep themself in one perfect shape, and now that energy could be used doing something else. They could see the edges of their form ripple in the air, with every breath Frisk took.

The ghost took a deep breath. _There was once a person, the best person that had ever existed. That person made friends with a very bad person. The bad person couldn't understand why the good person wanted to be friends with them, but the only thing the good person would say was 'you are a good person. I refuse to think you could be bad.' The bad person couldn't understand. The bad person used to be very lonely, and then the good person introduced the bad person to their family. The family were all as good as the bad person's friend, and the bad person couldn't understand._

 _There was another place, where the bad person came from, and they hated the good people. Feared them, even. Killed them. The bad person hated these people. They found out how to love the good person, and their family. The bad person decided to make something change. It was the worst decision they had ever made. The bad person's decision caused the great unhappiness of the good person's family, and they finally understood why they were so good and nice. It was because they learned that you can't go back, no matter how much you wanted to._

Chara had noticed that Frisk had gone to sleep some time ago, but wanted to carry on with the story. Frisk would never hear the end- Chara wouldn't tell that story to them again. It was too much of a risk. Instead, Chara just looked up at the ceiling of the room, and let their eyes shut. They fell asleep to the sound of the human's quiet snores.

* * *

Chara woke up before Frisk. They supposed that ghosts needed less time to replenish energy than humans. Looking back down at Frisk, they realised they might not need much more sleep- they'd be waking up soon. The ghost drifted over to the window and looked out. The windows weren't boarded up here at all either. Maybe they hadn't been told about what Frisk had been doing. Maybe the shop-owners knew someone who had fallen to their knife. They let their form shimmer and ripple, absent-mindedly twiddling their fingers. _What if they do decide to fight Papyrus? He never posed them any harm,_ Chara thought. _Sans could almost sense me, couldn't he?_ They recalled the expression on his face when they moved past him.

Out of the corner of their eye, they saw something shift. Move. Their eyes were instinctively drawn to it, and they caught a single glimpse of it. It was a mess of all the monsters they had encountered. It was a white colour, and the monster's eyes didn't seem to have any depth other than just black pits. Black tears streamed from the pits. Then it was gone. Chara let out a half-scream, half-shout, and Frisk awoke with a start, pulling their knife from beneath the sweater and looking in several directions until they looked at Chara. Chara was staring at the spot where the thing had stood, their face still stuck in a grimace of fear. Frisk frowned, and looked at the place. They saw nothing. Shrugging, they sat up. They were too awake to go back to sleep now, and it was light anyway. The human pulled the bag close to them and began packing it again.

'Chara? You okay?' they asked, most of their attention fixed on the task at hand.

They gave a nervous laugh. _I think so. You ready to carry on?_

'Gimme a minute, then we can go,' Frisk said, as they clipped the bag shut. They swung it around and fixed it firmly onto their shoulders, before getting to their feet. They smiled widely at Chara before walking straight toward the door. Chara followed them out, and they walked along the rest of the village. The big house was locked up tightly, as was the shed next to it. They walked further on, until he path became foggy and the wind became stronger, grasping at Frisk's loose t-shirt.

 _Frisk?_ The human glanced up at Chara, who was a tiny bit in front of them, and had resumed their kneeling in the air. They were a little bit taller than Frisk. _Are you really thinking of fighting the skeleton?_

Frisk didn't answer, only looked straight ahead, and walked a little faster. The fog became thicker, to the point where the human couldn't see an arm's length in front of them. The ghost sped up to keep pace with the speed-walking human, and stayed quiet too. Frisk's silence was all that they needed to answer the question.

A silhouette formed in from of them. It was tall, and towered above the human.

'HUMAN.'

Frisk stopped in their tracks, and looked up at Papyrus with an innocent smile.

'I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE SOMETHINGS TO SAY TO YOU,' he announced. Frisk just continued to look at him with a smile. Shivers crawled up Chara's back. 'YOU ARE STRANGE. YOU DO NOT LIKE PUZZLES, AND YOU TALK TO YOURSELF. YOU SHAMBLE FROM PLACE TO PLACE, ALWAYS COVERED IN DUSTY POWDER. SANS WARNED ME AGAINST COMING HERE TO FIGHT YOU. HE SAID YOU WERE GOING DOWN A DARK PATH. I THINK YOU MIGHT BE.

'HOWEVER, I SEE GREAT POTENTIAL IN YOU! EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON, IF THEY TRY. EVEN YOU,' Chara swallowed, heart in their throat. A heavy feeling filled them, and they lowered to the ground to try to alleviate it. It felt dark and it pushed everything inside them down with a terrible power. 'I THINK YOU NEED HELP. GUIDANCE, PERHAPS. TO KEEP YOU A GOOD PERSON. I, PAPYRUS, WILL GLADLY BE YOUR FRIEND AND TUTOR, AND HELP YOU TURN YOUR LIFE RIGHT AROUND.'

Frisk took a few steps forward. Chara couldn't move. 'I SEE YOU APPROACHING, HUMAN. MAYBE A HUG OF ACCEPTANCE?' Chara saw the silhouette get down to one knee- around the approximate height of Frisk. They so badly wanted to croak out a warning to the naïve skeleton, but they knew it would be useless. Nobody would hear them.

'WOWIE! MY LESSONS ARE ALREADY WORKING! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!' the silhouette's arms became meshed with his shadow. Chara supposed he was extending them to the human. They saw the red of Frisk's SOUL rise out of their chest and above them. It glowed a bright red, the colour of fresh blood. It sickened them to the stomach. They shut their eyes- they knew what would happen next. Unfortunate for them, they couldn't shut off their ears, and they heard the sound of the plastic knife shearing across Papyrus' vertebrae. The sound of his body crumbling to dust made Chara's eyes open wide, and involuntarily they lifted themselves through the air to hover just behind Frisk; they saw that Papyrus' body was completely gone. His armour too- just a Papyrus' skull resting on his dark orange-red scarf remained.

'W-WELL. THAT'S NOT WHAT I EXPECTED… BUT! ST-STILL! I BELIEVE IN YOU…YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER! EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO. I…I PROMISE,' and with that, Frisk lifted a foot. Chara watched in fascinated horror as Frisk planted their foot on Papyrus' long forehead and twisted, pushing down with extreme force, until the skeleton's skull crumbled to dust as well. The white SOUL rose, and Frisk grabbed it in a fist and it dissipated in their hands.

They knelt next to the pile of dust heaped on the scarf and lifted their knife high. It plunged down in an arc and stuck firmly in the frozen ground, anchoring the scarf to the snow. They pulled off their backpack and pulled on the pair of gloves. They were fingerless and had small brass pieces on the knuckles. They fit the human's hands perfectly, and they slung the backpack around their shoulders again. They looked up at Chara, the grin on their face wider than before.

 _No. I can't let you do this,_ Chara muttered.

'What's that?' Frisk asked, looking at the ghost who hovered over Papyrus' bone dust.

 _I can't let you go on like this, Frisk._

'What are you talking about, Chara?'

 _I won't let you kill my family._ The ghost moved around, Frisk turning to track their movements. Chara finally settled in place, standing fully on the ground as they would if they were corporeal, and they kept looking straight down, their fringe covering their eyes. _Papyrus wouldn't have hurt you. You kill without MERCY. I see that now. And it is my fault that you're like this. So it's my responsibility to get you out of this._

The ghost looked up. Their eyes sparkled with DETERMINATION. _I will not let you continue this path of destruction. If Papyrus couldn't break you out with kindness, maybe it'll take force._

*CHARA DREEMURR BLOCKS THE WAY.


	4. Chapter 4

_That force won't be in a FIGHT, however. If you go without MERCY, I'll go without a FIGHT_ , Chara said. A long blade, almost a sword materialized in their hands. It was a flat black, and the handle was adorned with a single golden flower. They levelled it at the human, who raised their fists and smiled.

Frisk took the first swing. They ran quickly toward Chara and swung. The ghost flew upwards and back down as Frisk staggered from the momentum. The ghost managed to slice Frisk with the blade, and blood spilled out. The human hissed. They looked back at the ghost, a snarl taking the place of the grin. It made Chara shiver, and they dodged quickly as Frisk leapt towards them and tried to take another swing. The ghost scored a shallow cut on the human, while being unscathed themself.

Chara just looked at the human. Frisk just stared back, their eyes full of the same DETERMINATION that surged through the ghost. The human wasn't moving, so Chara took their own initiative and cut through the air where Frisk's head had been. Frisk had ducked just in time, but Chara turned the failed cut into a pirouette and sliced back at the human, who nimbly dodged that slice too. The orange fists came for Chara again, and they didn't move in time to dodge. The fist plunged through the air with a terrible speed, and passed straight through Chara. _Incorporeal, remember, Frisk?_ The ghost asked, a smile taking over their features.

The human took in a small breath, looking even more DETERMINED. Chara growled under their breath, slicing the air beside Frisk quick enough that their black blade became a blur in the brisk breeze. The human was forced to move back and back, towards the dust and the knife that marked where the skeleton had fallen. They lost their balance and tumbled down, landing hard on their butt and back. Raising their hands in a defensive position, they began to cry black tears. The tears bubbled up from their dark sclera, creating rivers that tracked down their face. 'Ch-Chara. I-I'm so… so sorry,' they whimpered, looking up at the ghost with those soulful eyes. Chara's blade, raised above the human and over their heart, shook the tiniest bit.

 _I should have done this a lot sooner, Frisk. By stalling, I cost a lot of monsters their lives_ , the ghost snarled. They gripped the blade tighter. Chara's eyes tracked over Frisk's face searching for something, anything to show that the human would repent for what they had done. Their eyes were full of the innocence that Chara had noticed during their first meeting. Chara raised the knife higher. _It's not my choice. You've forced my hand, Frisk,_ they said, the blade beginning its arc.

In the last few moments they could, Frisk reached their hand up to the locket, and they pulled it so hard that it came free from their neck. They raised it up to the highest they could, and time seemed to slow down. Black leaked from the locket and coated their surroundings.

'Looks like we're FIGHTing on my turf now, Chara, huh?' Frisk said. Chara was no longer next to them- they were several metres away, their blade in their hand, hanging by their side. They looked back up at Frisk. Their fringe covered their eyes, and shadows extended to their nose. Their smile was visible, and the tears had disappeared. Chara raised the blade again. However this time it was a bright white, with a black handle. Chara felt something being pulled forcefully from their chest, and it was displayed in front of them, in a white box. It was an upside down white heart, with red fissures showing on it. Chara could feel that they could instinctively move it, and move it they did. Fists came toward the box with blinding speed, and all Chara could do was stay out of the way the best they could. One punch glanced off the heart, and Chara felt a pain deep inside their chest, as if something was taken away. The fists had stopped coming at the box, and Chara straightened their back.

 _I don't understand. Frisk, I don't have a SOUL. I'm just a being made of DETERMINATION,_ they growled. They raised the blade, and sliced through the FIGHT option. They were moved quickly up to Frisk's box, where the red SOUL pulsed with energy and its light filled the box. They summoned some more knives, and made them cut through the box, making their long blade the final slice, vertical, in line with Frisk's SOUL. Frisk managed to dodge it in time, and got through relatively unscathed. The ghost was moved back to their original place, and they glared across that the murderer opposite.

'I think I knew after the first few SOULs. You've got a monster SOUL. I could sense it, but I wasn't sure. I had to do it in a hurry, before you killed me,' they said, and shrugged. They threw another onslaught of punches at the box, which Chara dodged sufficiently. Chara angrily hit the FIGHT button, and thrust their hand out toward Frisk. Flowers bloomed from the top of the box, and seeds fell. They exploded upon impact with the bottom of the box or Frisk's SOUL. Chara landed several hits on Frisk that round, they noted bitterly.

The punches came again, irregular and unpredictable. Some moved across the box with incredible speed, moving towards the SOUL of Chara, and others just hit straight on. Chara was hit a couple times, and they staggered with each blow, their SOUL becoming slower and slower. Frisk took this as a sign and let loose a few more punches. Chara clutched their jumper in a hand, holding it tightly as Frisk's turn ended and Chara had control. They glanced below their FIGHT button.

3/20

Chara hissed through their teeth. They had no items, and the best they could hope to do was to survive another attack. They looked up at Frisk with a pained frown. _30/48,_ they murmured, knowing it was a losing battle. They stood up properly, releasing their jumper. The ghost raised their chin, and blocked out as much of the pain as physically possible, and just glared. They tapped the FIGHT button once more. Once the options faded out, they raised their hands together, gathered all their strength, and pushed outwards. A wave of energy flew at Frisk, cold and sweeping. It was a wave of knives one blink, and the next it was a group of vines extending out, until finally settling on a group of stars honing in on the SOUL. Frisk moved side to side, dodging each one. The final star fell, one larger than the others. It exploded into thousands of smaller stars, all zooming towards the determined SOUL. Some landed hard and Frisk shuddered violently. The stars evaporated, and Chara felt something inside them fade away, like they had every time one of the punches hit them. Another wave of the feeling hit them, and they felt as if they were hanging onto their consciousness by a thread. The blade fell from their hand and dissipated into nothing.

They fell to their knees, the blackness of their surroundings nearly enveloping them. They shook, as did their SOUL. Frisk stared down at them, grin fixed onto their face. They slowly stepped forward, up to Chara, who raised their head wearily. The last ounces of their strength were gone, sapped by the fight and the amount of energy they had expelled in the last attack. The human dropped the golden locket, and it landed in front of the ghost.

'I'm proving you wrong, Chara,' they said, and hit an invisible block. The darkness of their surroundings fuzzed and slowly became lighter, shade by shade until it was back to its original colour. 'I'm showing MERCY to your miserable monster SOUL. And I will give you a final choice. Stay out of my way, or I will decimate you as I have done here. I am only sparing you because you saved me. If you hadn't brought me back when I fell, I doubt I would be here. So really, I owe you everything, Chara. You taught me how to kill,' they said, before looking away from the ghost. Chara looked down at the locket, and snatched it up. They took one final glare, filled with hatred, at the human before getting to their feet and walking unsteadily back to Snowdin town. The human laughed, a shrill sound with no actual mirth. It cut into Chara like a knife.

* * *

When the ghost could no longer stand on their feet, they were at the library. They refused to go in there again. Chara tried to hover just above the ground, and found they could do that, as long as they went slowly, and not too far. They just wanted to get to the shop.

After a long time of agonized floating, Chara finally made it to the homey place. They moved through the door, and they pondered absentmindedly if that's what a hair felt like when going through a comb. A bunny stood in the middle of the shop, checking the shelves. They turned around when they heard Chara grunt in pain. The pain of only having one health point was extraordinary. The bunny was taken completely by surprise.

'A g-ghost?' they shrieked, and Chara looked up with tired eyes. Black was clouding the sides of their vision. The bunny laid a hand at where Chara's outline was fuzzing. 'Oh no…' they muttered, and grabbed one of the Cinnamon Buns Frisk hadn't taken. They held it to Chara, who took it in a single, shaking hand and took a bite out of it. Energy filled the ghost, and it felt as it something in their chest was rebuilding itself, fixing. Feeling better, they sat up in the air and took a proper bite out of the sweet food and felt more of themself rebuilding. They looked up at the bunny.

 _Thank you, thank you so much,_ they said, voice grateful. They took several more bites out of the Bun, while the bunny looked on in concern.

'What happened to you, sweetheart? Do you know what happened out in the Forest?' the bunny asked, her voice full of worry. Chara could now see that she was a girl, as their sight cleared a little more. The bunny wore a beanie similar to the one Frisk had chucked out, and a sleeveless top. Her fur was a light brown, lighter than Chara's hair.

 _A…a person went around, dusting everyone. I nearly got killed…_ they trailed off, deciding not to say Frisk was human. Chara wasn't even sure of that anymore, after all the SOULs that Frisk had absorbed.

'Oh dear, my poor child,' she said, her eyes softening as she looked at Chara. 'My name is Mable. Take all the time you need to recover. When my son came running in saying that there was an evacuation, we were terrified. Those Royal Guards told us that we needed to leave, but I couldn't bring myself to. I had a bad feeling, so I decided to stay, and luckily I was here to meet you!' Mable said. Her eyes suddenly darkened. 'Wait, did you manage to stop that…um, what did you say they were?' the bunny asked. Chara shook their head as if they didn't know. 'Well, if you didn't stop them, then we've got to tell the Royal Guard. If they're out there, dusting monsters like you and me, they must be stopped,' she said, voice strong. She moved back to her counter and began to rifle through papers. 'I have the Captain's number right here!' the bunny lifted her phone and tapped in the number with a paw. The phone rang several times before a loud voice answered it.

'Mable! Snowdin Watch! How are you doing? Alphys told me about the evacuation, didn't say why though. Just went bright red,' the voice sounded. They sounded very enthusiastic. 'One of the Guards just thought it was a drill.'

'Undyne, focus. There's a monster out there, and its killing people. I have a witness here,' Mable said, and nodded to Chara. The ghost floated up to Mable and hovered next to the phone.

'Well, crap. This is serious? Not just sans and Papyrus playing a trick through you to me?' the monster on the other end of the line sounded sceptical.

 _It's serious enough. It's a human, Captain. Black eyes, big smile. Fingerless gloves and a striped t-shirt. Probably covered in dust._

'Whoa, witness, slow down. I don't need your name, hmm, but holy crap. This sounds pretty serious, huh? A human. Wow. Haven't seen one of those in a long time. I didn't get a report from the Snowdin team, though. I'll have Waterfall on high alert. Thank you, witness,' Undyne's voice slowly got more and more serious as she spoke. She hung up, before Chara got to say the last thing.

 _Mable, the reason Undyne didn't hear about it was because the entire Snowdin team is dead,_ the said, and they began to cry tears of frustration. They were useless, and this entire problem was all their fault.

'Hey, sweetheart, c'mon, please don't cry. You've seen a lot, I can tell. Look, sit down for a bit and give me a hug,' Mable said, kneeling on the floor and sitting back on her haunches. The ghost hovered a little and hugged the bunny, crying into her soft fur. The bunny tried her best to calm the ghost, by making soothing noises and patting where the ghost's back would be if they were corporeal.

All your fault, repeated Chara's thoughts. All your fault. All your fault.


	5. Chapter 5

The shop was dark. The bunny had gone out to meet someone, someone who could help Chara stop the human. They were probably tearing through Waterfall right now- Chara's memories of the watery place were sketchy at best. After all, it had been a very long time since they'd been here. The ghost rose to their feet, and walked towards the door. They were about to pass straight through it when they remembered the bunny would be worried, and Mable had been so nice. Chara moved quickly back to the counter and fumbled for some paper and a pen. They solidified their hand somewhat to hold the pen, and wrote a message.

 _Mable._

 _I can't stay here. Feels weird, wrong. I'm going to follow the human. Take care- and DO NOT engage if they come back. You will only die._

 _Please. I'll see you again._

The ghost debated whether or not to put their full name, and wrote it anyway. It felt strange to make their hand ghost-like again and the pen fell through their hand. Chara shook their head, and moved through the door. The feeling was still not something they were used to- Frisk would always hold the door open when they were together.

The cold of Snowdin didn't affect the ghost, and the snowflakes that blew around just went straight through their fuzzing form. They suspected that not all of the flakes falling were snow- it was likely a lot of dust. There were more snowflakes than there should have been. Chara moved slowly through the town, looking at all the buildings one final time, before passing the place where Papyrus died. The knife lay on the ground, cracked and in two. Papyrus' dust was nowhere, and his scarf was gone too. Chara suspected that the short skeleton- Sans- had come and found it. They felt an overwhelming sadness, and they had to move on. The ghost started to run, and moved through the fog, faster and faster toward the cave opening.

Chara went through the opening and was greeted with the sound of crashing water, close by. They slowed to a walk and looked around themself. The source of the noise were two huge waterfalls, towering above the ghost. The ghost looked forward again, the reasoning behind why they were pursuing Frisk strong again. At their own peril, they would FIGHT for the Underground and its inhabitants. They hovered a few feet off the ground and hovered, before flying onwards.

The next room they entered had a softly glowing blue flower, which squeaked. A sentry station sat beside it, empty. They could see a pillow stuffed underneath the station. The crashing water was present in this room too. They flew on again.

Next room was more of a corridor, with a large patch of grass. Chara angled their route and flew over it, landing on the other side to examine the yellow diamond. It was twinkling in the dim lighting. Chara could tell that it meant that Frisk had passed through and saved here. They tapped it, and Frisk's SAVE showed above.

 _LV 9._

Then, a chilling text beside it.

18 left.

Chara swallowed. They knew exactly what that meant- they had realised in Snowdin Forest. Frisk killed that many monsters, when the message came up on one of the SAVE diamonds back there. Chara took their hand off of the diamond, and the information was sucked back into it. The ghost was running out of time, so they floated a few feet off the ground, and moved onwards, faster than before.

Several rooms on, they found themselves captivated by the blue stars in the distance. They were shaped like a SAVE diamond, only a pale blue. Chara remembered looking at them with Asriel, when he was Asriel. They smiled at the fond memories before remembering their mission, and they shook themself out of the flashback and zoomed onwards.

* * *

The ghost caught up to their former friend in a dark room with only the glowing grass giving light. They watched the human punch a Temmie and it evaporating into the air. Chara swallowed, swallowed hard. Temmies were pretty much harmless- if Frisk was killing them, Frisk was further gone than Chara had thought.

The FIGHT ended as the Tem became nothing. Frisk looked up and around, directly at Chara although their eyes were unseeing, then their eyes skipped over them. Seeing nothing, the human shook their head and turned back around. Chara made a mental note to stay in the shadows- Frisk seemed a lot more terrifying now, with the blackness of their eyes devouring everything. That was the part that unsettled Chara the most- their eyes. When they'd first met Frisk, the human was always squinting. Chara had seen a pair of broken glasses in the flowers, but hadn't aid anything about it. Now, Frisk's eyes were nearly completely open. They seemed to have a permanent smile on their face. The ghost couldn't make out their t-shirt, but they reckoned it was covered in dust- or that they'd swapped it out for the sweater they'd slept on back in the library.

The human continued on into the next room, and Chara could see that it was even darker in there. The ghost didn't feel like going through there. They would just go around it. Instead, they floated down the secret pathway, the one that they remembered, the one that would take them down to the Tem village.

The village was eerily silent. Not a single monster in sight. They looked into the door, and saw the second Tem they'd seen that day; it sat in a box, staring straight at the wall. Chara concentrated, hard, and their form sharpened. The tem stared straight at them.

'hoI,' it said, it's voice low. 'tem not got much to sell you. all tem's friends gone,' the two pairs of ears on the monster drooped. Chara moved up close, and knelt down in front of the box. 'gold flower told tem's friends go,' the temmie said, eyes downcast. Chara wondered idly if Asriel was still around, and they brought up a hand and patted the tem on its soft hair. The tem looked up at them with soulful eyes and tears bubbled up. It jumped forward and clung onto Chara, somehow managing to hold onto the ghost's incorporeal form. Chara hugged the temmie back, and lay it on the floor outside its box. It sat on the floor, white paws steadying it.

 _Tem,_ Chara murmured. The monster looked up. _Head in the direction of Snowdin. Avoid anything that looks like me, okay? And tell Mable that the ghost is okay. Got it?_ The temmie nodded and got to its feet and scampered away in completely the wrong direction. Chara smiled and shook their head.

'Chara?' A familiar voice sounded from the end of the village. Chara looked over, and there was Asriel. Chara could see the traces of their brother in the way the flower's eyes were creased in confusion, and then wide. 'Chara!'

 _A-asriel? Are you okay? Did Frisk get to you?_ Chara asked, moving close to kneel in front of their brother. The flower faced up at them, and they put their ghostly hand behind his petals. He leant into the hand and shut his eyes.

'I didn't run into Frisk- are you not f-friends anymore?' Asriel stuttered a little, and opened his eyes, pupils small in what could be surprise.

 _They're killing everything,_ Chara said, their eyes full of weariness. _Until there is nobody left._

'The same Frisk we met?' Chara thought they'd seen a flash of something in Asriel's eyes. It was gone almost as soon as they saw it. It looked like… a memory? They had no time to question it. 'I- I have to go.' and with that, the flower pulled himself into the ground. Chara stared at the spot where he went from; they touched the hill where the flower was. They pulled themself to their feet, and set off, resolving never to come back to the Tem Village.

* * *

It took them about an hour to figure out where Frisk was. They found them hitting a Woshua, and looked away as they heard it evaporate. Frisk looked around again, sensing a presence, but Chara was concentrating on not being seen, so the human's eyes simply skipped over the space the ghost occupied. The human shook their head again, muttered a few words Chara couldn't hear, and stomped onwards, the backpack bouncing on their back. Their hands were balled into fists, and the orange of the gloves was invisible, coated in white dust. It made Chara shiver.

Frisk walked onwards, and suddenly a child popped up beside them. The kid had no arms, and wore an armless brown-and-yellow sweater. They looked like a dinosaur. Frisk smiled down at them- wasn't too hard, Chara thought, since their face seemed to be fixed in that permanent grin. The Kid was chatting away to Frisk, and they nodded absentmindedly, looking ahead. Chara was confused.

The pair reached a bridge, Chara floating several metres away, and in the air. The Kid spoke to the human. 'Yo, you're my friend, right?' the Kid asked, loudly. They were standing between Frisk and the ground where they had come from. They were just past the halfway point. The human looked back at Kid, smiled and nodded. Kid swallowed, and then opened their mouth again. 'Then, why'd Undyne tell me to stay away from you? She told me you'd hurt a lot of people…' the child trailed off, staring at Frisk's face.

Their smile had dropped, and a frown formed. One of their hands twitched, and formed a fist. 'Uh, why aren't you a-answering me?' Fear crept into the Kid's voice. They took a step back, as Frisk took one forward. 'O-oh man,' they whispered. They looked down at Frisk's feet, and the human loomed. The Kid looked deep in through. Then, they whipped their head up, a fever burning in their eyes, and a frown on their face. They took an offensive stance, one foot in front of the other, and a growl on their face, but it was only a thin veil over the fear. 'Y-you'd better stop right where y-you are! Or I-I'll..' the Kid trailed off, and the human advanced, raising their fists high again. Black leaked from the fists of the human, and covered the walls. Frisk's brightly burning SOUL lifted from their chest, and they glared down at the Kid, their grin filled with sadism.

Chara shut their eyes. The Kid had only been standing up to Frisk, and their fate seemed to be to die to the human's fists, like most monsters in the area. They heard the air whistling as Frisk swung.

A huge sound. It echoed off the cavernous walls, bouncing. Chara's eyes snapped open. Frisk was cradling their fist, their SOUL back in their chest. Their surroundings were full of colour. A person in armour stood between Frisk and the Kid, who was on their back, eyes wide in surprise. The person had blue scales, and fins where their ears were. A long red ponytail hung down their back. The person fell to one knee, holding onto their chest with one hand, a teal spear clutched in the other one.

'U-Undyne! Are you hurt?' The Kid had scrambled to their feet, and was looking at Undyne's back. Undyne looked over her shoulder at them.

'H-hurt? I-it's nothing,' she grunted. So this was Undyne, the one Mable had called, Chara pondered. 'Next time, do what I tell you...' Undyne said, and the Kid nodded, before sprinting off the bridge. Undyne looked back at Frisk, glaring with her single eye. Kneeling, Undyne was still bigger than Frisk. The young murderer was forced to look up. The hand that the warrior held to her chest was sweating worryingly, drips falling to the bridge and through the gaps in the slabs. Undyne let go of her spear, and pulled her other hand up, and collected a few drips, and looked at them.

'N-nothing?' the warrior grunted, the reassurance she had given the Kid falling flat. She almost chuckled. 'N-no, even with one… one hit, I'm already fading,' she said, her voice barely above a whisper. Chara had to move in closer to hear. 'DAMN IT!' the warrior yelled, grunting, her eyes wide and fixed onto the human. 'NO! Papyrus…Alphys…Asgore!' Undyne growled, their names reminding her of why they deserve to survive. 'Just like that-nghhh-I've failed you…' she seemed not to be able to continue her sentence for a moment there, but persevered.

'M-my body feels like it's… splitting apart,' the warrior murmured. Her armour began to drip too, Chara having long figured out that it wasn't sweat, but actually Undyne herself who was melting. 'Any instant, I'll scatter into a million pieces… But I can't!' the warrior growled, eyepatch beginning to meld with the blue scales of her face. 'Deep, deep in my SOUL, there's a feeling I can't describe!' She lifted her melting hand toward the human, who just raised their fists. Undyne's hand dripped again, falling to the bridge. 'I simply cannot die!' She growled, a three spears materialising from the ground just behind her. Her eyes glinted with some kind of light, and Chara moved to just behind the human. The ghost could see the human reflected in Undyne's yellow eyes.

'This isn't just about monsters anymore, is it? If I lose… If you get past me, you'll kill them all too, won't you?' Undyne asked, disgust evident in her face. It had to be pretty obvious, since there wasn't much of her face to be seen. However, it seemed to not just be dripping toward the floor anymore- it seemed to be forming itself into something else.

'Everyone's hopes and dreams… Vanquished in an instant. They'll all die. But... The feeling inside me… telling me I can't let you do that. I refuse to let you do that. Right now, everyone in the world… I can feel their hearts beating… beating as one,' Undyne's pupil changed, expanding until her whole eye was black, and a white circle bloomed, stretching up, like a cats pupil. 'We all have one goal. To defeat YOU!' She hissed her final word, and rose to her feet effortlessly. It was almost as if the goo she was becoming lifted and then became legs as she stood.

'Human,' Undyne began, before narrowing her eyes. 'NO! Whatever you are…. For the sake of the whole world, for everyone in it,' the reformed warrior seemed to be reaching the height of her monologue. Frisk looked up properly, and Chara noticed them taking a step back. Undyne glared down at them. Undyne's grin became shaky, and wobbly, and a spear came to life in her hand, extending. The end looked like it was shaped of ice.

'I, Undyne, will strike you down!' the warrior yelled. The world went white for several moments, and the remade Undyne stood there.

Her scales seemed to shift if you looked at them. Her eyepatch had melted into her skin, and spears of energy burst from it. Undyne's hair stood up behind her, as if she had been shocked with electricity. The armour she wore was as black as the surroundings went when Frisk fought. It had a large, SOUL-shaped piece over the warrior's chest. She stood even taller than before. Undyne levelled her spear at Frisk, and her smile widened. Frisk's SOUL was yanked from their chest, and the surroundings flashed into darkness.

* * *

Chara watched with a detached interest. They could feel something in their chest pulsing with the electrifying energy that sparked around the area. Undyne had turned Frisk's SOUL green, and Frisk held their hands out in the direction of oncoming spears. They moved so quickly.

Then, on Frisk's turn, they felt something coming from Undyne. Instinctively, they reached out to the warrior with a hand, and threads of red flew from their fingertips to Undyne. The threads wrapped around Undyne's arm, and she glanced in Chara's direction, seeing them. She nodded to them, as if in thanks, and it became her turn.

The warrior raised the arm wreathed in red threads, and spears came from many directions, all honing in on the human. Frisk couldn't dodge them all. The human fell after they had defended themselves, looking at their health bar. 7/56, was the digits Chara could see.

'You thought I was done, punk?' Undyne said, voice low and taunting. The warrior clicked her fingers, and another onslaught of spears came on. Several hit Frisk at a high velocity and their SOUL became red, for a second. Then it began to crack, slowly. Finally, it splintered into thousands of pieces. Frisk fell to the ground, limp. The darkness of their surroundings was sucked into their body, and Undyne just stared down, and looked at Chara.

'Ghost. I don't know what you did, but kid, it freaking worked. Nice one,' Undyne said, beginning to melt again. The ponytail went limp, as it was before, and Undyne appeared to be the same as before.

Everything went blank. Chara couldn't feel a thing. The feeling was somehow…familiar?

It terrified them. They were not in control.


	6. Chapter 6

The world blinked back into vision, colour bleeding from the middle of Chara's sight and going outwards. They looked up, and saw Undyne smile, and level her spear at Frisk. The colour winked out again, and all of the trio's surroundings went black. Chara, already disoriented, pressed a translucent hand to their temple.

Frisk raised their fists to the tall, spear-wielding Undyne. They took a swing, and their fists connected surely with Undyne, and red numbers appeared above her head. Frisk steeped back, preparing for something.

They cocked their head to one side. Undyne grinned wider. 'Expect me to fall just like that, punk? Think twice!' the warrior said, and raised her spear. Several teal spears winked into existence, and Frisk seemed unable to move. A dark blue block formed in front of their hands, and as the spears approached at high speeds, they tried to deflect them. Some spears got through, and Chara thought they could see the glee in the warrior's eyes every time a spear hit its target.

The spears ceased to exist, and drifted away with the howling winds that were whipping around the area. Frisk raised their fists again, readying themself, before hitting Undyne with two sharp punches to the abdomen, causing more red numbers. When the warrior's turn came again, she wasted no time throwing all she had against the human.

Chara reached both their hands out. They would no longer stand on the side lines. The red strands extended from their fingers out to Undyne, and they could have sworn they saw the heart on her armour flicker red, just for a second. The fighter smiled, and attacked the human with renewed energy. The spears that were forming from her eye were the ones that latched onto Frisk and appeared to cause the most damage.

Chara kept their hands outstretched, until they felt a pull in their chest, deep inside. The feeling was similar to when they had fought Frisk, but it felt wrong. They yanked back on the strings, and Undyne's armour pulsed once more. The feeling wavered, and dissipated, but it must have been linked to the strands. For a second, as Chara focused on Undyne, they could just about see her SOUL- it was a monster SOUL, obviously, but it was laced with red, yellow and orange. The colours in the heart pulsed brightly with every spear summoned, but the ghost could sense the toll it was taking on the SOUL.

The two fighters continued in a similar vein for a while. Chara couldn't help, not at all. They couldn't put their life on the line like that- they had some sense of self-preservation left, at least.

Several turns later, it became Frisk's turn. They bent down and appeared to be fiddling with something on their feet. Chara dismissed it when they saw that Frisk was pulling something out of their backpack. It was one of the Cinnamon Buns, and they ate it in a few bites. Their red SOUL glowed brighter than before, even if just for a second. Their face became shadowy, and Chara got a sudden feeling of fear; the ghost themself was not at risk, so they didn't know why they were worried. Something about the shadows, they resolved.

As before, the warrior threw spears at the human, and Frisk seemed to be slowing down. Undyne was too- they were probably FIGHTing harder than they ever had before. Absent-mindedly, Chara thought about how feeble their attacks must have been in comparison to Undyne's. Frisk raised their shadowed face, and leapt at the warrior, feet first. Their jump seemed boosted, and they fell towards the warrior, who didn't seem to be able to dodge- in fact, was that shock on Undyne's face?

Frisk fell. Their feet impacted the warrior, hard. As the recoil from their attack happened, and they bounced off, they managed to get in a single swing with their fists too. Two lines of red numbers appeared above Undyne's head. The warrior fell to one knee.

She shut her eye, and spears stopped forming. The one in her hand clattered to the ground and dissipated. The fallen warrior seemed to be shaking, and Chara felt like they'd made the biggest mistake. 'Damn i-it…' the warrior hissed through her teeth. Her armour was dented where Frisk had impacted. All the darkness of their surroundings was sucked into Undyne, and she grunted in pain. Chara ached.

'God fucking damn it! I can't even beat one kid, in this form…' the warrior stopped for a harsh breath. 'Even this power… wasn't enough?' her voice echoed off the walls. She began to melt again, but this time it wasn't reforming her into anything. It was just falling. Chara could do nothing but stand there; Frisk seemed to be in shock.

The warrior looked up, looked Frisk straight in the eye. She laughed. Her smile widened. 'If you think, you think I'm going to give up hope? I-I'm not going to make it out of this room-' the warrior coughed, part of one of her teeth broken away by the force. 'You're wrong. I'm never giving up h-hope.' The warrior looked down, and swallowed hard. 'I-I've got my friends behind me…' she whispered. 'Alphys… she watched the tapes… watched me fight.' Undyne murmured, before whipping her head up. The warrior stared straight at the ceiling.

'Alphys! You need to begin the evacuation!' Undyne screamed, her voice hoarse. She looked back down, at the human. The warrior's legs were the same, now. Her hands were just blobs. 'Asgore will know to absorb the SOULS.' Undyne coughed again, only this one actually sending a shiver through her body. Her eyes snapped down, and bored holes into Frisk. 'This world… it will live on!' And with her final words, the warrior finally slumped. Her entire body fell to the puddle, and it just became a mess of blue and black. Frisk stripped off their gloves, and threw them into the puddle- they melted into it, making the pool swirl with orange.

'Nice fight, huh, Chara?' Frisk saw, looking at the puddle. The ghost's head snapped around. They hadn't known Frisk knew that they were there. 'Yup, I know you're there! I felt you earlier, but I wasn't sure…Maybe all these SOULS have made me sensitive to other monsters? Anyways, I have no problem with having an observer… Just don't get too close- or try to interfere, okay, friend?' Frisk smiled as Undyne's woven SOUL rose. It had taken longer to rise, and Chara wondered if that was because of the threads of orange, yellow and red. Frisk held a hand out, and it sunk into their skin.

Chara found themself staring at the swirling puddle as the human walked away.

* * *

It took them some time, but Chara found themselves floating towards Hotland. They remembered that Asriel always hated it there because he was particularly thick-furred. They laughed a little.

Once they were through the cave doors, it only took a few moments of floating to reach the huge steel structure ahead. They used this time to rearrange their thoughts- they had not been thinking clearly enough, and they had cost monsterkind their greatest warrior. Chara sighed, and moved quicker.

Once they got closer, they managed to pick out Frisk near the doors. The ghost decided to hang back a little, until they saw Frisk actually go in. They needed to see what was happening inside, so they phased through the wall of the lab, getting a full view of the inside.

There was a desk covered in papers and an abandoned mug. Next to that was a toilet and closest to them was a huge screen. Frisk was displayed on it, and then they looked to the tiled floor.

One tile had been displaced. Where it was supposed to have been was covered by Frisk. Chara moved around in a semi-circle to see, their curiosity getting the better of them.

It was a golden flower, facing up at Frisk. Asriel seemed to be pleading with the human, so Chara moved closer to be able to hear the two talking.

'-don't know what you're doing! Please, human, Frisk- whatever your name is- listen to me! This path leads nowhere! You get nothing, you hear me, you idiot. You get…' the flower shivered. 'You get lonely. Until you figure out how to RESET.' Chara swallowed, and let themself stand on the floor.

'Flowey, Asriel, I am doing this. You can't stop me, you stupid flower,' Frisk said, voice full of stubbornness.

'Then… then… I-I'll stop you!' Chara winced. It was almost exactly what Kid had said just before Undyne's first death. Little white pellets winked into existence, and Frisk's SOUL was pulled out. Their surroundings just switched into flat black.

The pellets arranged themselves into a formation, and sped at the SOUL. Frisk managed to dodge well enough that they were only hit maybe twice.

The human smiled. They began to run toward Asriel, and raised their foot for a kick-

and impact.

They bounced off of a red bubble that surrounded the flower. Asriel looked past Frisk, to the ghost, who stood with one hand outstretched towards the pair. The surroundings faded back into the original colour and the bubble around Asriel expanded into nothing. Frisk managed to get to their feet after bouncing off the shield. They stood and looked at Chara, who was flickering with a red light. Chara lowered their hand and moved to behind Asriel.

 _You will not kill my brother like you killed Papyrus, or Undyne,_ Chara said, their voice powerful and unwavering. Their eyes glowed bright red, staring down Frisk. The human smirked, and pulled something from their backpack. They held it by their side, and Chara was unable to see what it was.

'I wasn't planning on hitting your brother, Chara. Not after you INTERFERED,' they said. Frisk's final word was like a punch to the gut to Chara; still, they held their gaze steady and unyielding.

 _Take me if you wish, but Asriel deserves to live. It was my fault anyway, before,_ they said. Asriel looked up at them, in almost reverence. All thoughts of their own self-preservation that had clouded their judgement earlier were gone. Flowey may have changed, but underneath he was still Asriel.

'If you wish.'

Frisk threw the object in their hand. Chara shut their eyes, waiting for the blow. It never came. The pair heard a slicing sound. The ghost reopened their eyes, and saw Asriel at their feet. The object had been a knife, and it was through Flowey's stem.

The knife had never been meant for Chara, after all. The ghost dropped to their knees, beside the dying flower.

'Howdy, C-Chara… Just like old times, huh?' The flower let out a weak chuckle. His petals fluttered as Frisk walked past. Chara paid no attention. 'I'm SOULless an-anyway, don't worry a-about me,' the flower whispered. His petals were beginning to wilt away, becoming browned and curling. He opened his mouth to say something else, but couldn't say it. It was enough for Chara- the look in the flower's eyes was enough for them. A ghostly tear fell onto the dying monster, and Asriel smiled once more. Then their brother curled and wilted into nothing, and Chara cried.

* * *

'H-h-hello? Oh, oh no… D-d-didn't you leave with t-the evacuation?' Come on, p-please,' a stuttering voice sounded from behind Chara. They lifted their face from the now dust. A small yellow lizard monster moved around the side and then the front of the ghost. They looked up at the lizard, who gasped.

'W-w-who is that?' The lizard asked, kneeling down to Chara's height, looking them straight in the eye. The lizard pushed up her glasses and peered at the ghost.

'My brother. The human left a long time ago… towards the back,' Chara managed to get out, looking back at Asriel's dust.

'O-okay, I-I'll just send out…' the lizard trailed off, tapping a few things into a phone. The phone was quickly put away, and a jar laid in front of the ghost. Chara gathered as much of Asriel's dust and put it in the jar, and the lizard put the lid on tight. 'I'm A-Alphys, by the w-way. You s-should have left with the evac team. Why didn't you, may I a-ask?'

 _I watched Undyne die. I had to stop the human, but they got to my brother and I couldn't… couldn't go on,_ Chara said. _My name's Chara._

'U-u-Undyne? Oh, n-n-no…' the lizard whispered. 'I didn't b-believe the v-video, but I s-sent out the e-evac call anyway…' the lizard stuttered. She seemed to compose herself, and picked up the jar. 'I-I'll tell th-the guard to k-keep an eye out f-f-for the human…'

 _No. Don't. You'll only be sending them to their deaths… Frisk kills anything in their path,_ Chara said. They gritted their teeth and wiped their face as best as they could.

'Co-come with me, Chara. I-I'll take you to the e-evac teams. T-They'll g-get you to safety. In the meantime, tell me what your brother w-was like, h-huh?'

 _Well, he was kind. And good. Also a flower._

'W-was he a ghost th-that inhabited a f-flower? T-that happens, s-sometimes…'

 _No, not at all. See, I wasn't always a ghost, and he wasn't always a flower…_ Chara trailed off, thinking of whether they should tell Alphys about their past. They figured that the world was all going to hell anyway, so not much point in keeping it a secret. _You see, I'm from a long time ago. I was the King and Queen's child, and Asriel was my brother. I was the first human to fall, heh._

 _I wanted to die, falling. I-I didn't have a good life on the surface, I'll admit. So when Asriel found me, and introduced me to his family, I was so happy. They took me in as a second child. I was so grateful, I was willing to give up my life for their freedom. So that's exactly what I did- gave my SOUL to Asriel, but I was filled with hatred for humankind. I wanted to kill them all, and I probably would've, if it weren't for my brother. He held back, and we died. Somehow, he got reincarnated as a flower, with his memories, and I became a ghost, like old human lore._

 _And now he's dead again, because of me. Again._ Chara finished. They rubbed fiercely at their face, taking the jar of dust off the table.

'I-I'm so so-sorry, Cha-' a klaxon rang through the lab, and Alphys looked at the screen immediately. 'U-um, th-that only sounds wh-when the human has r-reached a new area. They're i-in the C-Core,' Alphys said, suddenly standing up straight.

'M-mettaton is in there!' she looked directly at Chara. 'P-please, C-Chara… He's the o-only one I have l-left, now…' Alphys trailed off. She lit up, as if she had had an idea, but she literally lit up, like a lightbulb. A yellow glow edged her scales. 'I-I have a b-bag specifically t-tailored for ghosts. St-stay here!' Alphys said, scuttling off. Her claws clicked rapidly on the tiles.

She went up an escalator and came down another one a few seconds later, clutching a bright blue backpack. She opened it and held it out to Chara once the scientist had reached them. 'K-keep your b-brother with you. G-good luck, C-Chara.' The ghost placed Flowey inside the bag and swung it over their back. The backpack felt as if it would phase through them and fall to the floor, but somehow it changed substance to match Chara's body, and it stayed firmly on their back. Chara said thank you many times to the lizard, until Alphys shooed them away to go help Mettaton.


	7. Chapter 7

Chara moved as fast as they could. They moved through walls to get a direct line to the core.

The hotel they passed through was eerily silent. They didn't notice really.

The ghost reached the Core. They went through the open doorframe, then tried to go up the elevator space, only to crash into the wall and fall to the metal floor. Chara scrambled to their feet and hit the wall with all intention of going through, and they just caused a clanging noise of metal on metal.

 _So the walls of the Core are impenetrable. Huh,_ they mused aloud, before hitting a button on the nearby elevator with a fist. Their hands twitched slightly; they were filled to the brim with nervous energy. They patted their backpack, and felt the jar inside. Asriel hadn't been lost, thankfully.

There was a sharp _ding!_ As the elevator arrived. Chara stepped in and the light overhead flickered on. They punched the only button inside, and the elevator zoomed upwards. The ghost took the moment to calm down, and took a deep breath.

The machine dinged again, and the doors slid open smoothly.

Chara stepped out, and there was a glinting star. They tapped it and read that Frisk had been there. The single word, 'determination', was there too. And something even scarier- LV19.

Chara ripped their hand away from the star. They heard a huge clang and ran through the doorway. It was decorated and glowed brightly, but Chara didn't care. They feared that the reason they had been sent here was gone.

The doorway led into a corridor, which they sprinted through. Inside, they just saw Frisk's back, before looking to the floor. There kneeled a robot, clinging to his chest. They moved up close, and heard him give out a metallic whimper. They put a solidified hand on his shoulder and tried to get him to look up.

'BLOOKY?' he asked, voice cutting out at parts. He looked up and saw Chara, so similar to the human who had just wounded him yet so different. There was kindness in their eyes, not the black emptiness which pooled in Frisk's. 'WH...WHO ARE YOU?' He coughed.

 _My name's Chara. Alphys sent me to come find you,_ they said and pulled their bag around to their side. They rifled through it, hoping Alphys had put something in there, anything at all that could help Mettaton.

All they found was a small silver smartphone. They opened it with a shaking hand, their other hand holding Mettaton up. The only contact in the phone was Alphys.

They hit the button and speakerphone, and dropped it. They used both hands to help Mettaton. All sounds in the background faded away, and only the sounds of Mettaton's coughs and gasps remained. That and the dull, repetitive ringing of the phone.

It beeped, and Chara hoped with every piece of them that Alphys had picked up.

'H-hello? C-Chara? Is Me-Mettaton okay?'

 _No. Alphys, get here as fast as you can. Hurry!_ Chara shouted over Mettaton's coughs, as they increased in power. They never knew a robot needed this much air.

'I WANTED T…TO BE AS HUMAN AS P…POSSIBLE. I HAD A…ALPHYS INSTALL HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS. IT GOT ME KILLED,' he laughed weakly. The phone was still on, but Alphys was no longer talking. Maybe she was on her way? Chara didn't know. They knew that Mettaton wouldn't make it, however fast Alphys got there. The robot had been doomed ever since he tried to face off with Frisk.

Chara continued to hold the robot as the lights in his eyes dimmed. His cape didn't flow correctly behind him, but lay limp and curling. The gun-hand was holding him up, and his actual hand seemed to be trying to hold the panels in his chest together. He had stopped coughing, but he winced a lot, and grunted in pain. The whole time Chara just held him; they were hoping against their knowledge that they were wrong, hoping against themself that Mettaton could hold out.

It had been about ten minutes since Chara had found Mettaton, and they could hear the rapid clicking of claws on the metal. It sounded frantic. Alphys got into the room, and moved up beside Chara to hold the robot up. Chara's arms were aching. Absent-mindedly, they wondered how their arms were aching- they were incorporeal. Alphys began to sob, taking shuddering breaths.

'N-no! M-mettaton, n-n-no! Y-you can't l-l-leave me here, b-by myself!' Alphys repeated over and over. She had come to the same conclusion as Chara. The conclusion that Mettaton was doomed, whatever she did. 'M-make your ghost c-c-come out! I can b-build you an-another body, c-come on!'

Mettaton smiled and shook his head. He shut his eyelid. 'ALPHYS, YOU KN…KNOW IT DOESN'T WORK L…LIKE THAT. I'M CORPOREAL, I…I CAN'T LEAVE. I'M GOING TO DIE, H…HONEY,' he said, his voice getting lower. He ended with a dark chuckle. His eye snapped open suddenly, and it latched onto Chara, who was standing behind Alphys, feeling awkward. They knew nothing about the pair, they couldn't help in any way other than being there. When Mettaton looked at them, though, they held his eyes steady- if this was the robot's final wish, they would grant it as best as they could. 'GO. FIGHT THEM. DO… DO WHAT I COULDN'T. G…GOOD LUCK, CHARA,' he said, his eyes sliding shut again. He lifted his real hand and laid it on Alphys' shoulder, and she cried harder. Chara couldn't stay there anymore- they had a mission now, and all they could do was fulfil it. They lifted off their feet and zoomed away, through the door and towards another place completely new to them.

* * *

Once through the door, Chara could sense the walls softening almost, and they put their hand through it just to make sure. They carried on down the corridor, into they reached an elevator. Instead of waiting for it, they just flew up the shaft.

Another SAVE star twinkled opposite them. Above it, they learned the name of the place- NEW HOME. Chara realised that meant Frisk had already SAVEd there so they began to move on. They moved quicker above the ground so they adopted the kneeling position. They had a slight nostalgia- they hadn't taken this position since Snowdin. They vaguely wondered how Mable was getting on.

They reached another elevator, and punched a button and it moved quickly, as if sensing their urgency. They almost didn't make themself solid enough to stay in the elevator, but managed to do it just in time. The doors slid open smoothly. They jumped out, and moved swiftly towards the corridor, which through they could see a golden light.

* * *

Through the doorway, they finally saw Frisk. They has their back to them. Just beyond them stood sans, his eyes sockets shut. Chara ran forward as the world went black and Frisk began to dodge. Light blasted off and Chara flinched, and they ran out of time. Frisk crumpled and their SOUL smashed. Colour cracked the black surroundings and spread, filling the black with yellows and oranges of the Judgement Hall.

The ghost stood just behind Frisk's body and looked directly at sans. He looked different. The dots in his eye sockets were dim. He wore Papyrus' scarf, and was looking directly at them, one hand on the orange-red scarf. Other than that, he looked exactly the same as when they had last seen him, in Snowdin.

'a ghost? you're a monster too, right? when they RESET, when the kid comes back, you really gotta get into the spirit of hurtin'. this kid hasn't stopped,' sans said, the bone above his eyes creasing into a frown. 'wait, i remember you. you were in snowdin when the kid was, right?'

Chara nodded. _My name's Chara. I've got to help you- Frisk's my fault._ sans' 'eyebrows' creased further. _It's a long story. I don't have much practice with my magic, but I can use it._

'okay, chara. you help me. all i ask is that i get the last hit.'

Chara nodded. _I don't think I could do it anyway. They were my friend._ sans seemed to be about to say something, but he was cut off by the world flattening into nothing, then stretching outwards.

* * *

Chara's vison came back as the world expanded. They found themself opposite sans again. He looked confused at them, then realization dawned on his face. 'chara, right? come on. the kid's on their way,' the flicked his head to the left, and they took it as they should stand next to him. They pulled off their bag, gently, and took out Asriel's jar. They stood it beside a pillar and patted the lid affectionately. They left the bag beside the jar.

Frisk had reached sans now, and sans was talking to them. His words were bitten off at the end, the harsh words echoing around the hall. Chara went to float beside sans, only coming a few inches taller than him. Frisk looked at the ghost curiously, and smiled at their ghostly friend. Chara glared back, and Frisk just smiled wider.

Something white caught Chara's eye just about Frisk's head. It was a large, white, upside down heart. With a deep-seated horror, Chara realised it was all of the SOULs in the underground, all the ones that Frisk had absorbed during their journey. Just behind Frick, Chara saw the most terrifying thing- and they'd seen it before. Just not this large.

It was all of the monsters they'd seen Frisk kill, and more. Near the top, cried the Toriel they'd glimpsed before in the library. A Papyrus face with black tears streaming down his face loomed just below her. An Undyne face with a tiny spear-growth from a black eye sobbed. It was a huge white mass, all melted together. Only their faces were distinguishable. The mess seemed to scream out to Chara, to free them, and Chara swallowed. Black leaked from the amalgamation's many eyes, and covered all around them, signifying they'd gone into battle. sans had said his part, and was throwing bones at Frisk. Frisk twitched as they moved their red SOUL to avoid them.

sans then summoned a huge skull. It looked like a cow skull, only with sharp jagged teeth sticking out at odd angles from its jaw. Its eyes glowed a bright blue, and its mouth opened. A huge sound, almost like a drawn out laugh, and a ball of energy formed in the now-unhinged jaw. It formed a line and blasted outwards in a perfectly straight line. Frisk's SOUL didn't manage to completely dodge, and when the blast finished, one tiny corner of their SOUL smoked. Three more were created, and Frisk moved to avoid them, managing it perfectly that time.

Then it was Frisk's turn. Chara's SOUL was pulled out, as was sans'. Frisk went for sans'- they knew Chara was easily beaten, they'd managed before. The knife that Frisk swiped down headed straight for sans' pure white SOUL, but he dodged nimbly and surprisingly quickly for someone who acted that lazy. 'thought i was gonna stand there and take a hit? nope,' he grinned wider than before, it becoming almost maniacal.

It was Chara's turn to hit Frisk with as much magic as they could. They outstretched a hand, and then two. On the top of the box, there formed the flowers from their first fight, and the seeds fell faster this time, and did more damage. Through their second hand, they felt the pull that they had during Undyne's fight, and little red oval-spheres formed around the box, and honed in on Frisk's SOUL. They looked like the red version of Asriel's attack, and Chara smiled. They felt stronger and pushed a little more for the final seconds they were able to.

Their turn ended. Frisk swiped again, and missed. sans smiled, and then with the next attack he turned them blue. They had no experience with this, and they crumpled to the floor, and managed to get to kneeling. They glared up at sans, no longer the smiling face of before. Their eyes were full of DETERMINATION.

'tell me, kid. how many times have we fought this same battle?' sans' turn ended and the pair's SOULS were pulled out. Frisk advanced, their knife in a tight grip. They swiped down, but used momentum to change it at the last minute, and sliced through Chara's SOUL.

The ghost felt drained, feeling what made them Chara slipping through the slice in their SOUL. They fell to their knees. They clutched at their chest and sunk to the floor through the air. They knew that their SOUL wasn't technically in their chest at the moment, and knew in the back of their mind that it was dying. They weren't going to make it through to the next turn.

'Thirteen times. Ten times I died to you and three to Chara after I'd killed you,' Frisk added, their smile wide as before. sans growled lowly, and his left eye lit up a bright, pulsing blue. He raised his hand, and bones moved through the bottom of the box, fast. 'i won't let you kill another innocent monster, like you killed my brother,' he hissed, as a bone struck Frisk. Another hit them, and a third went right through their SOUL, effectively impaling them. The SOUL cracked and shattered, and the human fell to the floor, lifeless. Chara was too busy trying to hold their SOUL together as it was sucked back into their chest, and they felt it crack a little more.

 _Oh god oh no oh no,_ Chara repeated, until they no longer sounded like words. Their breaths were harsh, even though they didn't need them, it was a distraction from the ebbing feeling. sans kneeled beside them.

'chara, i know it hurts, kid, but c'mon. you're not gonna make it through- I ain't gonna fool ya. but there'll be a RESET soon, and you'll be up in no time. ah, damn it, pap was always better with emotions than i was. i don't know how to help- oh holy shit,' he said, as Chara felt themselves break apart even more. Everything went white, instead of squashing like a RESET.

 _So this is dying in your own body, huh?_ Chara was still concious. Something was tugging at them, so they let themself fall into it, and the world went black and stretched upwards.

They opened their eyes. sans was staring at them. 'well, that was… different. you're looking as white a sheet.' sans chuckled. 'the kid's on their way. get ready,' he said, before turning away to look at the golden light at the end of the hall. Chara glanced at the pillar- there sat Asriel. They could almost feel him hovering at their shoulder, quietly cheering them on. They straightened up, and hovered beside sans.

* * *

Frisk moved closer. _Hello, brother killer. Death's a weird thing; a thing you'll experience next,_ Chara growled, before glaring and flicking a hand. The flowers bloomed, and knifes formed at the sides of the boxes, glowing dark red just before they struck inwards. Frisk didn't get out of that attack unscathed. They panted, and swung their knife with a slower movement. It was aimed for sans, who dodged easily. On sans' turn, he laid down a battering on them, and Chara could just about see Frisk's health: 20/92. They swallowed.

With another flick of their hand, the red bullets formed again and waited. _You murdered our brothers… for what? Power?_ The bullets honed in on Frisk, moving fast. The human dodged most of them, and on their turn, they pulled a Cinnamon Bun from their backpack.

'You don't understand, Chara. When you absorb a SOUL, it's a great feeling. It leaves you wanting more. I got addicted,' Frisk shrugged and ate the rest of the Cinnamon Bun.

sans didn't say anything at all on his turn, just made Frisk blue and sent them over a group of moving bones. He had one hand on Papyrus' scarf, clutching it so tight that if he had skin and blood, Chara was sure his knuckles would be white. He was glaring murderously at Frisk. Frisk missed a few bones, and got down to 10 HP. sans then lowered his hand for Frisk's turn.

They were out of Cinnamon Buns, They raised their knife, shaking, ready for one final turn. They dropped the knife and fell to their knees. They sobbed.

'Please, please don't kill me, it was a mistake I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,' they whimpered, and their turn ended. sans raised his hand again.

'even mistakes have consequences, kiddo. if you were really sorry, you won't come back.' he snapped his fingers, and bones extended up from the floor and struck right through the red SOUL. It began to crack. 'chara, you gonna grab that?' it had begun to rise. It seemed as if Frisk was giving up. They truly were sorry. But what made them change?

Chara moved up close to the SOUL, and tapped it with a finger. It was absorbed into their arm, and they felt full. Their body was full to the brim, and they felt parts of them were filled that they hadn't known were empty. Chara felt themself touch the floor, actually touch the floor, and they looked down. They were corporeal, a human. They touched their other arm and looked up at sans, who smiled at them. His eyes were still dim, as if he were still full of hurt- they guessed that he was. One act of vengeance wouldn't make up for the fact that Papyrus was dead. Chara heard a shattering sound from behind them; white pieces of many SOULS fluttered down beside them. sans sighed.

'well, kid. there's nothing left here now. everyone else's already bit the dust, except maybe asgore. you have the power to RESET now, kiddo, no point in leaving us here. RESET this timeline, and do it right, this time. i'll see you on the other side, kiddo,' he said, his voice low. He turned and began to walk away, out of the Hall. Chara just stood, before picking up Asriel's dust and walking in the opposite direction to sans.

They reached the golden SAVE star. They tapped it, and everything came up. They held their hand beside the RESET button, but hesitated just before hitting it.

'Time to erase this world,' they whispered to themself. It made them chuckle. They moved their hands forward and hit the RESET button.

The world flattened again, but this time it was different. Chara was in control now, and they were finally going to make everything right.


End file.
